POLOKWANE –  The South African Liquor Brandowners Association (SALBA) has submitted an urgent request for information in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

Their request was sent to the Minister of Cooperative Government, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, to request the information that government has used to base their decision on, to yet again ban alcohol sales.

According to a statement by Salba, their request follows a confirmation at the industry meeting with the officials of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) yesterday, 29 March, that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) intends on banning all sales of alcohol for 11 days, starting Easter weekend.

“The NCCC further intends to increase the number of people allowed in a gathering from the current limitation of 100 for indoors and 250 for outdoors for the same period,” their statement added.

SALBA has given government until Wednesday, 31 March, to avail this information on which the organisation would base its next course of action.

“We hope government will be transparent and make this information available. We would like to understand what the rationale/evidence-based reasoning is behind an 11-day ban of alcohol sales, while at the same time, increasing the maximum number of people allowed at gatherings,” said Salba Chairperson, Sibani Mngadi.

Mngadi expressed concern that the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, has once again failed to meet with the industry to discuss the coming ban.

Salba said that through the DTIC’s National Liquor Authority division, the department is responsible for the licensing of manufacturing and distribution of alcohol in the country.

“We have had three bans; totalling 19-weeks of lost trade days with R36 billion loss in sales revenue for the industry and R29 billion loss in tax revenue for government since the start of the lockdown this time last year. Minister Patel has, however, only found time on one occasion to meet with the industry to inform us of the third liquor ban. He has not responded to a series of correspondence from various organisations in the alcohol sector. We have, instead, been received by other ministers in the NCCC, but not him,” concluded Mngadi.